The 2009 Cheese festival

Posted on 03. May, 2009 by Mike in People & Places

cheese2 I had the wonderful privilege of making my way out to the South African Cheese Festival this past Friday to enjoy what would presumably be the finest and most far reaching display of cheeses South Africa had to offer. Having never ventured out to Bien Donné for this event before, I didn’t expect there to be a host of wines on display, as well as olives, olive oils, confectioneries, nougat, breads, biltong, beer and even some livestock!

To be completely honest it was really a food festival with the emphasis placed on cheese – and luckily so. After the 48th mouthful of cheese, one starts realising that your stomach probably wasn’t built to cope with a kilo of cheese moving around in your bowels. It was in this moment that a massive realisation came upon me… cheese isn’t meant to be enjoyed on its own! What a discovery! As marvelous as it is alone, unless you’re the expert shopping for your store, it’s far better enjoyed with a little biscuit, with perhaps some cherry tomatoes or smoked salmon but ideally on a torn off chunk of baguette with some quality meat.

cheese

Considering the price of milk has become exorbitant it was actually with some appreciation that I took in the price of most cheeses. Discovering that it’s actually quite a performance to culture a good cheese I really started to appreciate all the fine cheese on offer for free. The highlights at the event were the offerings at the French Pavilion, those fabulous olives that I can’t remember the name of anymore and most of all the unique cheeses you wouldn’t normally find in your day to day ramblings around your local market – be it organic or super.

All in all it was a great day out of the office, taking in the sights of the countryside, soaking up the foodie atmosphere and spoiling myself with some of the finer foods in this life.

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The 2009 Cheese festival

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